The second Lamorinda Green Drinks event will be Thursday, May 15th from 6-8pm at the Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa. Beer, wine, and soft drinks for sale and complimentary hors d'oeuvres. Lamorinda Green Drinks is an informal opportunity for local businesses and residents that are interested in green practices and sustainability to socialize, network and learn from one another.  We welcome anyone who is working to make their workplace or home more green, and who wants to share ideas about how to reduce our impact on the environment. Green Drinks events are held in over 300 cities around the World every month. These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity.

See the flyer for more information.

In conjunction with other Lamorinda community organizations, we are proud to announce the first green film night on May 8th, 2008 at Rheem Theater. A $15 ticket includes local wines and appetizers in the lobby starting at 6pm, followed by the movie "Blue Vinyl" at 7pm. We hope this will be the first of many green film nights at Rheem. You can purchase tickets at our Earth Day booth on April 20th or contact us at info@sustainablelafayette.net.

In Blue Vinyl, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand and co-director and award-winning cinematographer Daniel B. Gold set out in search of the truth about polyvinyl chloride (PVC), America's most popular plastic. From Long Island to Louisiana to Italy, they unearth the facts about PVC and its effects on human health and the environment.

See the flier for more information.

Environmental Night with Chelsea Green Publishing at the Lafayette Book Store on Wednesday, April 23rd at 7pm, featuring author Jessica Prentice. Michael Weaver, representing Chelsea Green Publishing (one of the nation's premier publishers of environmental books) will spend the first half of the event presenting books of environmental interest, followed by a presentation and signing by Jessica Prentice, author of Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection. More information...

More about Jessica Prentice...

On Sunday, April 20th, the City of Lafayette and Sustainable Lafayette will host the third annual Earth Day Festival at Stanley Middle School from 12-4pm. This year the theme is "A Family Affair," with educational displays, entertainment, and a scavenger hunt especially for students or scouts and their families. For more information visit the Earth Day page.

On Monday, March 17th Lamorinda will host it's first ever "Green Drinks" event at the Moraga Barn from 6 - 8:30pm. Green Drinks events are held in over 300 cities all over the world, typically once per month. You can see for yourself at Green Drinks International (www.greendrinks.org).

Green Drinks allows for anyone concerned about environmental issues to get together over a drink. It is an informal opportunity to socialize, network and learn from one another. These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity.

The Moraga Barn is located at 925 Country Club Road in Moraga. Drinks will be sponsored by local businesses and there may be a donation request.

January is a perfect time to make a resolution to reduce your contribution to global warming.  This workshop offers an ideal way to get started.  It's like a Weight Watchers program for carbon emissions.

The workshop will be run by Acterra, a well known environmental non-profit, based on a popular workbook by David Gershon shown to the left.

Date: Monday, January 28th
Time: 7 - 8:30pm
Location: Sequoia Room, Lafayette Community Center
Cost: $5 Donation Suggested

Workshop Details:
This "30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds" is a fun, accessible, easy to use guide that will show you, step-by-step, how to dramatically reduce your CO2 output in just a month's time.  Grounded in over two decades of environmental behavior change research, this illustrated workbook offers much more than a list of eco-friendly actions. It walks you through every step of the process, from calculating your current CO2 "footprint" to tracking your progress.  By making simple changes to actions you take every day, you'll learn how to reduce your annual household CO2 output by at least 15%.

In the workshop you'll learn how to:

• Calculate your CO2 footprint with our easy-to-use "carbon calculator"
• Create "cool household systems" that save the Earth while saving you money
• Take on "cool lifestyle practices" that reduce CO2 emissions without cramping your style
• Purchase carbon offsets to become "carbon neutral"
• Form a Low Carbon Diet "EcoTeam" with friends, colleagues, co-workers or your faith community

Free Workbook for the First 5 to RSVP:
Be one of the first five to RSVP by sending an email to info@sustainablelafayette.net and receive a free workbook, which otherwise will be available at the workshop for $15 each.

Saint Mary's College is one of the many academic institutions participating in Focus the Nation (http://www.focusthenation.org) in January, 2008. On January 23rd, Saint Mary's College will hold an eco-fair and a symposium on global climate change. Both events will take place at the Soda Activities Center.
    The Eco-fair will take place from 11AM to 4PM, featuring exhibits by green vendors, non-profits, and community groups involved in global warming solutions.
    The symposium, from 7PM until 9:30 PM, will bring together a select group of experts to address the challenges and opportunities facing the country on this issue, including dialogue with the audience.
    These events are open to the College community as well as educators, civic leaders, public officials, and community members from Contra Costa County and the East Bay.

For more information: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/news-and-events/focus-the-nation/index.html

Distributed 460 free CFL light bulbs!
Our participation at the Reservoir Run was a big success!  We gave away 460 light bulbs in just 2 1/2 hours (about 3 per minute!).  If all of these are used for 4 hours per day for the next 5 years it will save around 230,000 pounds of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere.
 
A huge thank you to everyone that volunteered including: Rosalind Kim, Mary Chandler & Girl Scouts,  Linda Riebel, Tina Tankka, and Sharon and Ian Richard.